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351w engine help

N

nirvanaphobe

New Member
Hey guys, I’m new to these forums so forgive me if I break any rules within my post.

About a month ago now I bought a 351w long block from a local guy that appears as a brand new rebuilt motor. It’s got the guy who used to own it’s name on it in paint pen and .060 written under the timing chain sprocket along with a near perfect bottom end. I haven’t checked bearing clearances yet but it looks new for sure.

Anywayssss, as I was cleaning the motor up today to further inspect it I found something I’d never seen before; grooves cut into the cylinder walls of cylinders #3 and #6 (pictured below). These are far too low to catch a ring or anything crazy like that (as far as I can tell) but they sure are mind boggling to me. Anybody know what these are? Is this something typical for Windsor’s of this era?
f51895b309cfbdba6dfbc6179df91198.jpg

Block is a 74 btw


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One thing comes to my mind but I am not sure. The block has sleeves.
Do all cilinders have this ?

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If anyone is wondering, nothing wrong with sleeves if done properly. As long as the block was bored properly and there was enough material to safely allow it.
 
B67FSTB said:
One thing comes to my mind but I am not sure. The block has sleeves.
Do all cilinders have this ?

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Click to expand...

Thanks for all the responses guys, I would say that too but is it normal for only 2 of the cylinders to have sleeves and the rest to just be bored out? I guess at the end of the day as long as they hit a consistent bore it doesn’t matter?


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Horseplay said:
If anyone is wondering, nothing wrong with sleeves if done properly. As long as the block was bored properly and there was enough material to safely allow it.
Click to expand...

I figured so but I appreciate the confirmation, it’s nice to hear from people that know their stuff.


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It's fairly common to see multiple sleeves in a block and not an issue. Old engines sit around and moisture gets in a cylinder and rust starts. Left to age it can get deep enough that sleeves become the only option to save it. Other times something can cause a deep score in the cylinder wall that again is too deep for a simple over-bore to clean-up. Get something old enough (like an old flathead) and can see every bore get a sleeve!
 
I just shelved a 351W that was going to need to be bored 60 over to clean up the wall on one cylinder. I could have gotten away with just one sleeve and had a motor that was 40 over. Most research I did said that if you went 60 over, you should have it checked for wall thickness as it may be an issue. There is a possibility that those two cylinders were thin so they decided to sleeve them.
 
kb3 said:
I just shelved a 351W that was going to need to be bored 60 over to clean up the wall on one cylinder. I could have gotten away with just one sleeve and had a motor that was 40 over. Most research I did said that if you went 60 over, you should have it checked for wall thickness as it may be an issue. There is a possibility that those two cylinders were thin so they decided to sleeve them.
Click to expand...

That’s interesting, so it may have just been because of inconsistencies in the wall thicknesses in that area that caused them to sleeve it?


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The early 351w blocks are known to be thicker and it is normally not a problem to bore them to .060, but if there is a core shift, that can be a problem that requires sleeving. My 69 351w block is .060 with no problems.
 
69GT350H said:
The early 351w blocks are known to be thicker and it is normally not a problem to bore them to .060, but if there is a core shift, that can be a problem that requires sleeving. My 69 351w block is .060 with no problems.
Click to expand...

That’s what I heard, I’ve heard of people boring these even .080 over with no problems


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